The Promise
by Laura Spudzmom
Chapter 2:
She stared up at the attic access door and shrugged. She had nothing pressing to do and as the saying goes, there’s no time like the present. She smiled at the thought that ghosted through her mind as she pulled down the access stairs. “Unless it’s the past with a handsome, sandy blond man.”
She climbed the access stairs carefully, just knowing that she’d have to battle at least one spider. She shuddered. She hated spiders. She was pretty cool with them as long as they stayed the hell out of the house. It’s when they started moving in and making themselves comfortable in the corners, that they parted ways and the war was on. She knew that they just had a desire to stay warm and dry too, but damn it, there was a perfectly good tool shed out back for that. The house was off limits.
Thus having justified her future actions to herself, she cocked back with the fly swatter and entered the attic. Sure enough, she ran right into an invisible sticky strand that she knew to be from a black widow. Now to find the minion of evil…
She gave a cursory look around and didn’t see the telltale black body suspended anywhere, so she stayed alert and went to the new box in the corner.
She pulled the box away from a stack of others, and nearly shrieked before her reflexes kicked in and there was one less black widow in the world.
“Shit.” She placed a hand over her racing heart and tried to get her breathing back to normal as a shiver of revulsion wracked her body. “Okay Bella, just grab the damn box and get the fuck outta here.”
After inspecting every inch of the thing, she hefted it and made her way back down stairs and into her room, setting it down in the middle of the floor.
She sat down next to it and lifted the lid, setting it off to the side. All she could see so far was a mass of tissue paper. Moving the top layers aside, she realized the paper was wrapped around something that felt like cloth, so she lifted the whole lot out and laid it on her bed, unwrapping it fully. It was a beautiful, old-fashioned dress, the lace and embellishments at a minimum on the deep green material. She was a bit surprised that she liked it. She wasn’t exactly one for dresses of any kind but this one had a muted elegance to it that she found very appealing. Shrugging with a small smile, she went back to the box to see what other surprises lay inside.
The next item was an envelope, which she laid aside. There was a very thick and ancient looking book that had caught her eye and she was anxious to get a closer look at it. Lifting the old tome out, she placed it atop her desk carefully. The thing looked like it would crumble to dust any second, but when she opened it, she found the pages in surprisingly good condition. Another surprise was that every word in the book was hand written, and there were hundreds of pages. She flipped back to the opening page and read. “Book of Shadows of the Vandio Family”
Her breath caught in excitement. This could very well explain the rift between Renee and her grandmother. She eyed the envelope. Perhaps her grandmother left a further explanation? Only one way to find out.
She grabbed the envelope and popped the seal, pulling out several folded sheets of parchment. Unfolding the bulk, she began to read.
My Dearest Grand Daughter Isabella,
If you are reading this, I am gone from this world. I only regret that I did not have more time with you in this life. I would have enjoyed that immensely, but due to circumstances beyond our control, it was not to be and we must accept it.
As much as I want to convey my love and care for you, this letter has a much more important purpose. It is meant to tell you of your heritage, sweet Isabella, for you are one in a long line of witches. Do not doubt, my sweet. You have the gift just as your mother did not. The family Book of Shadows will instruct you in how to use it.
It is of vital importance for your future happiness that you learn, and perform the ritual on page 13. Follow the directions my dear, and be exact. You will not be disappointed, I promise you. Wear the dress during the ritual, and hold the satchel. Remove nothing from it my sweet grand daughter. You will need everything inside.
All my love to you Isabella.
Until we meet again.
Your Grandmother,
Isabella Analetta Vandio
Bella blew out a breath and stared into the distance. A witch? Seriously? She could barely take it in, but the more she thought about it, the more it seemed to fit. She felt the truth of it deep inside. It would certainly explain why Edward was blocked from her thoughts and why she felt so drawn to all things supernatural. Looking back, she could see all the times that Renee discouraged her involvement in anything that even hinted at the mystical. The time she’d come unhinged when she found a set of tarot cards in her room...or the scrying crystal she’d been given as a birthday gift from a friend. It had disappeared shortly after she’d shown it to her mother. Now she knew why.
Paging through the rest of the documents behind the letter, she found identification papers with her name on them, but with a much earlier birth year. Much earlier, as in decades earlier. 1865 to be exact. It had a sticky note attached; ‘Place in satchel’.
She reached into the box and withdrew the satchel, opening it and placing the document inside. She was going to take a chance and trust her grandmother. She felt deep down that she needed to, so she went with it.
The rest of the papers behind the letter were details about late 1800’s San Antonio, TX. She gave them a cursory look, peeling off the sticky note that warned against putting these particular documents in the satchel as they would raise questions if anyone else saw them.
She set them aside and went back to the Book of Shadows, turning to page 13 to read through the ritual. It seemed simple enough, but she would need a full moon, plenty of salt for a circle and candles. Ritual candles in white.
Booting up her laptop, she googled the moon cycles and was equally shocked and excited to see that the moon would be full this very night.
Shit. Was she ready? Could she be ready? She thought back to the Quileute bookstore in Port Angeles, remembering that they had a stock of candles and sage sticks. At least they had when she’d bought that book on their legends. She shrugged. She had to get to the grocery store for dinner supplies anyway. She might as well drop by and see if they had the candles.
Closing the book carefully, she grabbed her keys, debit card and phone and headed out. She locked up the house with a smile on her face. “Time for the next great adventure, eh Bella?”
She stared up at the attic access door and shrugged. She had nothing pressing to do and as the saying goes, there’s no time like the present. She smiled at the thought that ghosted through her mind as she pulled down the access stairs. “Unless it’s the past with a handsome, sandy blond man.”
She climbed the access stairs carefully, just knowing that she’d have to battle at least one spider. She shuddered. She hated spiders. She was pretty cool with them as long as they stayed the hell out of the house. It’s when they started moving in and making themselves comfortable in the corners, that they parted ways and the war was on. She knew that they just had a desire to stay warm and dry too, but damn it, there was a perfectly good tool shed out back for that. The house was off limits.
Thus having justified her future actions to herself, she cocked back with the fly swatter and entered the attic. Sure enough, she ran right into an invisible sticky strand that she knew to be from a black widow. Now to find the minion of evil…
She gave a cursory look around and didn’t see the telltale black body suspended anywhere, so she stayed alert and went to the new box in the corner.
She pulled the box away from a stack of others, and nearly shrieked before her reflexes kicked in and there was one less black widow in the world.
“Shit.” She placed a hand over her racing heart and tried to get her breathing back to normal as a shiver of revulsion wracked her body. “Okay Bella, just grab the damn box and get the fuck outta here.”
After inspecting every inch of the thing, she hefted it and made her way back down stairs and into her room, setting it down in the middle of the floor.
She sat down next to it and lifted the lid, setting it off to the side. All she could see so far was a mass of tissue paper. Moving the top layers aside, she realized the paper was wrapped around something that felt like cloth, so she lifted the whole lot out and laid it on her bed, unwrapping it fully. It was a beautiful, old-fashioned dress, the lace and embellishments at a minimum on the deep green material. She was a bit surprised that she liked it. She wasn’t exactly one for dresses of any kind but this one had a muted elegance to it that she found very appealing. Shrugging with a small smile, she went back to the box to see what other surprises lay inside.
The next item was an envelope, which she laid aside. There was a very thick and ancient looking book that had caught her eye and she was anxious to get a closer look at it. Lifting the old tome out, she placed it atop her desk carefully. The thing looked like it would crumble to dust any second, but when she opened it, she found the pages in surprisingly good condition. Another surprise was that every word in the book was hand written, and there were hundreds of pages. She flipped back to the opening page and read. “Book of Shadows of the Vandio Family”
Her breath caught in excitement. This could very well explain the rift between Renee and her grandmother. She eyed the envelope. Perhaps her grandmother left a further explanation? Only one way to find out.
She grabbed the envelope and popped the seal, pulling out several folded sheets of parchment. Unfolding the bulk, she began to read.
My Dearest Grand Daughter Isabella,
If you are reading this, I am gone from this world. I only regret that I did not have more time with you in this life. I would have enjoyed that immensely, but due to circumstances beyond our control, it was not to be and we must accept it.
As much as I want to convey my love and care for you, this letter has a much more important purpose. It is meant to tell you of your heritage, sweet Isabella, for you are one in a long line of witches. Do not doubt, my sweet. You have the gift just as your mother did not. The family Book of Shadows will instruct you in how to use it.
It is of vital importance for your future happiness that you learn, and perform the ritual on page 13. Follow the directions my dear, and be exact. You will not be disappointed, I promise you. Wear the dress during the ritual, and hold the satchel. Remove nothing from it my sweet grand daughter. You will need everything inside.
All my love to you Isabella.
Until we meet again.
Your Grandmother,
Isabella Analetta Vandio
Bella blew out a breath and stared into the distance. A witch? Seriously? She could barely take it in, but the more she thought about it, the more it seemed to fit. She felt the truth of it deep inside. It would certainly explain why Edward was blocked from her thoughts and why she felt so drawn to all things supernatural. Looking back, she could see all the times that Renee discouraged her involvement in anything that even hinted at the mystical. The time she’d come unhinged when she found a set of tarot cards in her room...or the scrying crystal she’d been given as a birthday gift from a friend. It had disappeared shortly after she’d shown it to her mother. Now she knew why.
Paging through the rest of the documents behind the letter, she found identification papers with her name on them, but with a much earlier birth year. Much earlier, as in decades earlier. 1865 to be exact. It had a sticky note attached; ‘Place in satchel’.
She reached into the box and withdrew the satchel, opening it and placing the document inside. She was going to take a chance and trust her grandmother. She felt deep down that she needed to, so she went with it.
The rest of the papers behind the letter were details about late 1800’s San Antonio, TX. She gave them a cursory look, peeling off the sticky note that warned against putting these particular documents in the satchel as they would raise questions if anyone else saw them.
She set them aside and went back to the Book of Shadows, turning to page 13 to read through the ritual. It seemed simple enough, but she would need a full moon, plenty of salt for a circle and candles. Ritual candles in white.
Booting up her laptop, she googled the moon cycles and was equally shocked and excited to see that the moon would be full this very night.
Shit. Was she ready? Could she be ready? She thought back to the Quileute bookstore in Port Angeles, remembering that they had a stock of candles and sage sticks. At least they had when she’d bought that book on their legends. She shrugged. She had to get to the grocery store for dinner supplies anyway. She might as well drop by and see if they had the candles.
Closing the book carefully, she grabbed her keys, debit card and phone and headed out. She locked up the house with a smile on her face. “Time for the next great adventure, eh Bella?”
DISCLAIMER: Twilight and its inclusive material is copyright to Stephenie Meyer. Original creation, including but not limited to plot and characters, is copyright to the respective authors of each story. No copyright infringement is intended.